Methylchloroform (1,1,1-trichloroethane) is a useful chlorinated solvent, but is much more sensitive to degradation in the presence of certain metals, particularly aluminum. Chlorinated solvents would be advantageously employed in paints containing aluminum and other metal pigments were it not for this characteristic since the flammability problem encountered when using aromatic hydrocarbons could be obviated if methylchloroform could be substituted for them.
Stabilizers for methylchloroform in contact with metal containers and equipment are well known and include such compounds as nitroalkanes, dioxanes and dioxolane, certain alcohols (both saturated and unsaturated) and epoxides such as butylene oxide. These normally stabilized formulations when placed with a metal pigment do not satisfactorily inhibit the reaction between the metals and the methylchloroform.
It would, therefore, be desirable to find a stabilizer which would be effective in such an application of the methylchloroform. Certain diglycidyl ethers of bisphenols have been found to satisfy this application.